216 Held as Protests of Police Acquittals Block Traffic.

In the largest public protest against the acquittal of three detectives in the shooting death of Sean Bell, 216 people were arrested on Wednesday in carefully orchestrated demonstrations that halted traffic at busy intersections in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the police said. The demonstrations, described by the Rev. Al. Sharpton as ''pray-ins,'' played out on a bright spring afternoon as boisterous displays of civil disobedience in which people signed up to be arrested, assuring organizers and lawyers that they were carrying proper identification to show to the police. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]